Greetings
by Ice Is Nice
Summary: Sometimes all it takes is a warm greeting


**Author note: After a long hiatus from writing I decided to delve into a one-shot dedicated to Midorima,I admit that it is not my best work as I like to add a lot of detail to my writing along with description, but I kind of like the way it is but of course I will let you guys be the better judge (constructive criticism) is most welcome as I am really trying to improve my writing. **

**Disclaimer: Anything that you recognise obviously I don't own**

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**Greetings**

_It never occurred to him that he would miss her or that he even cared_

_Like everything in his life she was just a mere memory or so he thought_

_But life like always is ever a mystery _

For as long as Shintarou Midorima could remember, the strange girl greeted him every morning on his way to school. Since the very first day of Teiko middle-school he met her on the bus every morning. She was a soft-spoken girl with a strange accent and he immediately pegged her as a girl who recently moved to Japan. There was nothing extraordinary about the girl and if he wasn't in such a foul mood that day he doubted that he would've even noticed her.

It all started that morning so many years ago, the day started from as typical can be to his worst nightmare, the batteries of his alarm clock had died during the night which meant that not only was he late in getting ready but he had spent well over an hour looking for his lucky item that should have been on his desk. It seemed however that luck was still on his side or so he _thought_ because an accident on the road delayed the arrival of his bus and he managed to make it just in the nick of time, after battling through countless passengers he finally squeezed onto the crowded bus. Unable to find a seat he stood in the middle awkwardly, barely twelve and already he towered over countless others. Taking in a deep breath to calm his slightly agitated self that morning he began to think about Tokyo and Teiko Middle-school for the first time since he moved, instantly his mood turned sour as he thought about his old home, lost in his thoughts and with a desperate need to get some space he accidentally stepped on something lumpy, a piercing screech echoed into his ears. Looking down he realised that he stepped on a small girl's doll shattering it in the process, immediately moving his foot he tried to apologise but the girl kicked him the shins.

"You big meanie!" She screamed at him, her cheeks red while tears streamed down her face, the bus swayed and Midorima groaned as the pain from the kick intensified—that little monster could kick. As her mother tried to calm her child Midorima didn't miss the glares directed up at him and that was the last straw.

"I would suggest that you teach your child some proper manners." He snapped at the women and barely a second later a hard slap landed on his cheek causing his glasses to nearly fall on the floor.

"Don't you dare get funny with me or my _child!" _ Astounded Midorima decided that this was far more trouble than it was worth and decided to move his position to the other side of the bus, with what little pride he had left he ignored the throbbing on his cheek while fuming at his bad luck and more so at his parent's decision to move, he consciously decided that if he was going to have a bad day than so is every single person in Tokyo. With a permanent scowl on his face he didn't budge or make room for the elderly grannies until he was viciously wacked _again_ and forced to move _again_ while earning an earful from the group of women about being respectful.

With a renewed sense of hatred towards the female gender which he thought he had lost long ago after he outgrew the cooties phase Midorima couldn't help but realise how stupid those men who fell in love were.

Embarrassed at his disposition and utterly furious at how _amazing _his first day of school was turning out to be he spent the rest of the bus ride staring out the window, and if anyone dared to sit next to him he would flash them one of his deathly glares, he has been told that he looked rather intimidating especially since he can't even remember when he last cracked a smile.

_Five minutes _

_It seemed that time was racing _

_He is going to be late—and the bus was moving at a snail's pace _

A figure sat next to him and immediately he turned to shower the person with one of his lethal glances but then his green eyes caught hazel, the beautiful eyes belonged to a girl with thick curly black hair who looked rather surprised at his irritated expression, the odd thing however about the girl was rather than pretending she hadn't see him, she gave him a small smile and bade him gentle greeting.

Her voice soft yet barely audible suiting her mousy appearance perfectly

Slightly taken aback, Midorima turned away. Surely she had mistaken him for someone else or so he thought. He saw her leave at the stop before his own and as she got off, she gave him yet another one of her tender yet hesitant smiles. This very same thing happened again the next morning, and that time Midorima returned the greeting but ever so reluctantly, as the girl got off at the same stop her eyes drifted to his lucky item and bandaged fingers; for a second he thought she was going to ask him something but instead she said "Have a lovely day." The door slowly shuts behind her and Midorima couldn't help but notice a few strands of her black curls flying against the gentle wind as she walks off to her destination, a smile ever present on her face.

As time progressed, they fell into routine that both couldn't help but anticipate. Every morning, the girl would say, "Good morning" and Midorima would either reply with a similar greeting or nod acknowledging her presence although he never did put too much emotion into his replies. When she got off, she always said "Have a lovely day."

It was never _nice_ or _good _day but always lovely

One time, he was feeling particularly low due to a Basketball match the night before. His team won but he scored the lowest, the sheer irony of the situation due to him being the shooting guard of the team did nothing to improve his already sullen mood—so he snapped at the girl, with an icy tone he said "There's nothing good about this morning so why don't you just mind your own business." What shocked Midorima was that the girl didn't seem the slightest bit upset by his rudeness, but her smile merely faltered for a second, and when she got off like any other day she greeted him with her genuine warmness.

For the rest of the day, Midorima felt guilty. Surely what he said was completely out of line after all the girl had always been nothing but polite.

But the next day came and the girl smiled and greeted him just the same—lovely as always

Nothing had changed and Midorima felt strangely relieved

It would take a few more months for Midorima to realize the girl was the only consistent thing in his life apart from Basketball and his lucky items. No matter what he did or said the girl would always greet him with a cheery smile and bade him a good day especially when he was feeling particularly vicious.

Months slowly bled into years with time everything changed, Basketball no longer held the same level of attachment that it once did for him and how could it? His team had fragmented over the years—each too prideful to acknowledge the other but they still remained bonded however it was largely due to their responsibilities of finishing what they had once started.

As graduation inched ever so closer, he realized that there was a very good chance that he was never going to see the girl again. Toying with the idea of having an actual conversation with the girl, Midorima prepared a series of sentences to say. Suddenly, two weeks before graduation, the girl disappeared. He didn't think too much about it, burying himself in student council work, Basketball matches and preparation for the graduation ceremony.

Things weren't too different from before or so he thought—Akashi told him that he was getting irritable while he claimed it was simply stress.

But every morning, Midorima would wake feeling refreshed, and as he got on the bus and got to school, he'd feel more upset than before, the feeling irked him.

On the day he would graduate from Teiko, Midorima got up earlier and boarded the bus, not feeling particularly thrilled about having to do last minute work for graduation. The time being much earlier than usual, the half-asleep Midorima was able to secure a seat.

"Good morning."

Looking to the source of the cheery greeting, Midorima saw the same smile that disappeared from his life for the last two weeks.

Sitting next to him was the girl

His constant

"Morning," He replied, somewhat speechless yet strangely a lot more awake that he was a minute ago.

"Please excuse my absence for the past two weeks. My grandmother fell ill and I was out of the country." She informed him shyly with her warm smile while holding his gaze. It was the first time she said something to him other than a typical greeting.

"I hadn't noticed," Midorima replied coolly, slowly he turned his eyes away from her to look at the outside, a strange feeling of discomfort settled in his stomach and the rest of the bus ride flew by in lull of silence, _strangers once again_ and when it came to her stop she got up and gave him another gentle smile.

"This is my stop, have a lovely day."

"And yourself," Midorima said demurely as she disappeared behind the closing door. She slowly waved at him as the bus pulled away.

He never did ask for her name. And like that, he graduated from Teiko Middle School and entered high school, his life changed drastically over the next few years yet he never forgot her although he would never think about her, but ever so suddenly he would find himself searching for a pair of hazel eyes every time he boarded a bus but he quickly pushed the thought to the back of his mind.

After all there were far more important things to think of.

Like beating his old comrades

Time as usual moved in its rapid pace and he soon realised that he wanted to pursue a career in medicine like his parents so he decided to move abroad to attend a respectable university while Takao ever the Basketball nut decided to follow him with a scholarship.

Although everything in his life seemed complete something felt missing and he would every so often think of the girl that he hadn't seen in so many years and he wondered why he never bothered to ask for her name. Oddly enough, every time yet another one of his relationships didn't work out he would go for a bus ride, not really expecting to see the girl but still, hoping he'd catch a glimpse of her.

A few years later Midorima returned to Japan with a medical degree under his belt. One morning, as he boarded a train for work like he did every morning, a woman with a set of hazel eyes caught his gaze and before he could tear his eyes away, the woman caught him staring and smiled while bidding him a warm greeting.

About 15 minutes later, the woman moved to get off the train. But not before saying to Midorima, "Have a lovely day."

Recognition hit him hard before he pushed past the other passengers to get off the train. He knew it wasn't his stop but he didn't care, he needed to at least get the woman's name.

"Please wait for a moment!" He called, the woman turned to look at him and smiled. Midorima straightened himself before bowing, "I am Midorima Shintarou, and it's a pleasure to meet you."


End file.
